Bonarda: Argentina's Quiet Number Two

Bonarda is pronounced boh-NAR-dah.

Argentina's second most-planted red grape is one almost nobody outside the country can name. Malbec took all the attention, and Bonarda quietly filled the vineyards behind it. That gap between how much of it exists and how little it costs is the whole reason to pay attention.

What it tastes like

Think ripe plum, black cherry, and dried fig, with a soft edge that reads as almost sweet even when the wine is dry. The tannins are gentle. The acidity sits in the middle, enough to keep it fresh, not enough to make it feel sharp or demanding. Where Malbec can go inky and structured, Bonarda stays round and easygoing.

This is a wine built for weeknights and roast chicken, not for a decade in the cellar. Most of it is made to drink young, while the fruit is bright and the texture is plush. Serve it a touch cool and it drinks even better.

The name that means four things

Here is where you have to be honest with yourself before you buy. The word "Bonarda" is a mess.

Argentine Bonarda is not the Bonarda you find in northern Italy. DNA testing settled this: the grape planted across Mendoza is genetically identical to Douce Noire, an old variety from the Savoie region of France, which is also the grape California calls Charbono and which older French records list as Corbeau. Four names, one vine. Italy's Bonardas, meanwhile, are entirely different grapes, mostly Croatina.

So when you see "Bonarda" on an Argentine label, you are drinking Douce Noire under a borrowed name that got pinned to it generations ago and never came off. It is a small piece of ampelographic housekeeping that most bottles will never mention, and it explains why the grape has struggled to build a reputation. It is hard to market a wine when the name on the front points to three other places.

Bottles to look for

Rather than chase a specific label that may not reach your shelf, look for the pattern. The value versions come from eastern Mendoza and San Juan, usually under fifteen dollars, made in a fresh, fruit-forward style. A smaller group of producers treat old-vine Bonarda seriously, giving it oak and time; those bottles cost more and show more depth. Both are worth trying, but they are not the same wine, so read the back label for the region and the vine age when you can.

The underdog case here is simple. Bonarda has every quality that made Merlot a household name, and it sells for less because it never got the marketing budget or the movie moment. Here is the honest caveat: the cheapest bottles can taste a little simple, all fruit and not much else. That is the trade you make at this price. Spend a few dollars more, toward the old-vine end, and the grape shows what it can actually do.

Where to buy

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Bonarda is not on every US shelf, but it is far from impossible. Argentine-focused importers and the larger online retailers carry it, and it is cheap enough that trying two or three at once costs less than a single bottle of name-brand Merlot.

browse Bonarda on Wine.com →

— Chris Berry

If you're switching from a famous grape

If you drink Merlot for the soft, round, dark-fruited comfort of it, Bonarda gives you the same thing for less money and with a little more juicy lift. It is the natural next pour when the familiar bottle starts to feel like a habit rather than a choice. See Wines Like Merlot for the full swap, or Order This Instead when you are staring at a restaurant list.

Part of Lesser-Known Wines: 17 Obscure Grapes Worth Switching To — the full underdog-swap guide.